It wasn’t the job he wanted – freshman starting running back at San Diego State.

But it was still a job. He was a waiter at Applebee’s, making $2.14 per hour, plus tips.

He wasn’t crazy about it. Customers often complained about their orders. The tips weren’t always great. Plus, there were constant reminders of everything he was missing in San Diego — TV screens showing college football from around the nation.

“I realized I don’t want to be a waiter my whole life,” Hillman said.

So he did something about it. He hit the books, retook his college-entrance exam and passed. Now he’s back at SDSU, practicing with the team this spring and drawing raves. There are even whispers that Hillman, a true freshman, could be the difference-maker the Aztecs have been seeking for years.

“He’s a factor,” SDSU offensive coordinator Al Borges said. “You could tell it just in the first two days without pads on.”

It took some heartache, though. Besides waiting tables, Hillman had been suspected of cheating on his college-entrance exam. He always denied it, but to prove himself right, he had to leave SDSU; move to Georgia, where his mother lives; get a job; study hard; and retake the test.

It all started last August. Hillman was one of SDSU’s most prized new recruits. He was even working with the first-team offense at times, until about a week before the Aztecs’ season opener against UCLA in the Rose Bowl. That’s when he got some bad news: His Scholastic Aptitude Test score was being questioned by the university admissions office because it was so much better than the poor one he received on a college placement test a few weeks later.

As a consequence, his SAT score was sent in for review and he lost his college eligibility. He had to leave his SDSU dorm and not return until his score was cleared or he retook the test and passed, as he did last fall.

Hillman called it all a “misunderstanding.” He doesn’t blame anybody else for what happened. Both he and head coach Brady Hoke credit the admissions administrator who red-flagged his test, Sandra Cook, for helping him return to SDSU to start the spring semester.

Hillman said the whole situation could have been avoided if he had done better on his college placement test. If he had, his SAT score wouldn’t have stood out so much in contrast.

“I didn’t take the placement test seriously,” Hillman said. “It was my fault. I take full responsibility for that.”

In the end, he says he’s better for it. The whole ordeal made him hungrier, he said.

That’s what can happen to somebody who went from possibly starting in the Rose Bowl to taking food orders at Applebee’s, all in the span of a few weeks.

“He has persevered,” Hoke said.

Hillman said he never considered other college teams in the meantime, though he could have.

“I didn’t want to go back on my word,” he said. “I wanted to stay here and come back with the (SDSU) family. I love it here.”

He appreciates it all the more because of his three months last fall waiting tables in Georgia. Hillman worked with other, older waiters trying to make a living and feed a family based on their small wage and tips. It made an impact.

“I got a learning experience. I got work experience. I got to see life without going to school and what a degree means,” Hillman said. “Those people depended on waiting as their main income there. People were struggling. I don’t want to struggle. So it pretty much made me focus and made me realize I need to buckle down and get school right and work hard for what I want.”

The last time he played, Hillman accounted for 2,104 yards rushing and receiving, plus 27 touchdowns for La Habra High. He has been called the “Reggie Bush of Orange County.”